Bad debt write-off: when and how to do it properly
When to write off an unpaid customer debt, the steps to follow first, how to record it properly, and what to check with your accountant on VAT and tax.
5 min read
Built in South Africa for African businesses
One platform for every way you get paid
CentraPoint is a payments and billing platform for South African and African businesses: payment links, hosted checkout, VAT invoicing, subscription billing, debit orders and reconciliation - across the payment gateways you already use.
14-day free trial on Starter, Growth and Business. See pricing
- ZAR-first, multi-currency via gateways
- 13 gateway plugins
- Tamper-proof signed links
- Credentials encrypted at rest
Works with leading African payment providers
- PayFast
- Netcash Pay Now
- Ozow
- Yoco
- Peach Payments
- PayGate (PayWeb3)
- Netcash Debit Orders
- Paystack
- Flutterwave
- DPO Pay
- Pesapal
- M-Pesa (Daraja)
- MTN MoMo
Features
Everything between the invoice and the bank statement
Collect once-off and recurring payments, then prove every rand landed where it should.
Payment links & hosted checkout
Create shareable payment links in seconds and send customers to a hosted checkout on the gateway of your choice.
Invoicing with VAT
Issue professional invoices with VAT, let customers pay online by link, and record payments received offline.
Subscriptions & recurring billing
Sell packages and plans on a schedule, and let CentraPoint handle trials, renewals and failed payments.
Debit orders
Run bank debit orders through Netcash, from signed mandate to submitted batch.
Customer self-service portal
Give customers one place to find their invoices, receipts and subscriptions - no password to remember.
Coupons
Run promotions with discount codes that work at checkout and on subscriptions.
Reports & report builder
Standard reports for every module, plus a report builder for the numbers your business actually tracks.
Account reconciliation
Import merchant statements and let CentraPoint match what was collected against what was expected.
Multi-gateway plugins
Connect the payment providers you already use across South Africa and Africa - cards, instant EFT and mobile money.
Accounting integrations
Keep your books in step with your collections by syncing to the accounting system you already use.
Webhook & audit logs
See every inbound gateway notification and every change made by your team.
Roles, permissions & two-factor
Invite your team with role-based access so everyone sees only what they need, and protect every sign-in.
API keys & REST API
Automate payment links, invoices and more from your own systems.
How it works
Up and running in four steps
- 1
Create your account
Sign up, add your business details and invite your team with built-in or custom roles.
- 2
Connect your gateways
Add credentials for the providers you use. They are encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM.
- 3
Get paid
Send payment links and invoices, run subscriptions and debit orders, or integrate via the REST API.
- 4
Reconcile
Import statements, auto-match collections, fees and payouts, and clear the exception queue.
Security
Built with payment security in mind
Payment data flows between your customers, your gateways and your bank. CentraPoint is designed to keep that path verifiable.
AES-256-GCM
Gateway credentials encrypted at rest.
Verified webhooks
Signatures checked, then re-verified server-side with the gateway.
Signed links
HMAC-signed payment links resist tampering.
Audit trail
Webhook and audit logs for every change.
From the blog
Guides for getting paid in South Africa
Practical articles on payment gateways, subscription billing, debit orders and VAT invoicing.
Guides Developers Feature gating by plan: entitlements for SaaS apps
How SaaS developers can gate features and limits by plan with an entitlements model, keep it in sync with billing, and handle trials and downgrades.
5 min read
Subscriptions Setup fees on subscriptions: when and how to charge
When a once-off setup fee on a subscription makes sense, how to price and explain it, and how to bill it with cards, debit orders and invoices.
5 min read
Start getting paid through CentraPoint
Create your account, connect the gateways you already use, and send your first payment link or invoice. Starter, Growth and Business include a 14-day free trial.